Be Safe

My apartment complex fails to inform it's tenants about major criminal activity, new pool passes and wet paint on the banisters.  They did, however, send out personalized emails regarding Hurricane Irene, the preparations they're making and the preparations we're expected to make.

Hmm, this might be serious.

We're not strangers to tropical storms in this area. We're infinitely more familiar with them than say, earthquakes. I vaguely remember (though maybe I just remember the photos) being carried a mile or two from my grandparent's house to see the swollen Patuxent after Agnes.  I was an adult with my own baby when Isabel came through, turning our inland yard to a lake and knocking the power out for days.

But we've been lucky in this region.  The Chesapeake Bay hasn't had a direct hit from a hurricane since 1933.  My great-grandmother told me the water from that storm surge lapped the steps of the bungalow I grew up in.  That's the bungalow that sits more than three stories off the water.

Perhaps she was exagerating. Wikipedia says the storm surge for the 1933 storm was just over 11 feet.  I don't normally consider Wikipedia a definitive source, but let's say it is for this. 

And as always, we will hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Be safe, my friends.

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Sources and Further Reading

"1933 Chesapeake/Potomac Hurricane," Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Chesapeake%E2%80%93Potomac_hurricane

"Hurricanes," Ready America
http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

"Hurricane Awareness," NOAA's National Weather Service
http://www.weather.gov/os/hurricane/index.shtml